SENSOR ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME

• US 20110089953A1
• Filed: 10/15/2009
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations Incorporated (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Leutheuser, Andrew H., Chandler, Andrew K., Blevins, Willard A., Yount, Larry J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,384,354 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/427
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/545 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/547 Voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/549 Current
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/10 by alarm
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0038 relating to sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0046 relating to electric energy storage systems, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/04 Cutting off the power supply under fault conditions protective devices and circuit arrangements in general H01H; H02H
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/64 Constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/10 for monitoring or controlling batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/22 Balancing the charge of battery modules
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/00 Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor for lighting vehicle interior B60Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/006 on road vehicles, e.g. automobiles or trucks testing of ignition installations peculiar to internal combustion engines F02P17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/396 Acquisition or processing of data for testing or for monitoring individual cells or groups of cells within a battery
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 35/00 Testing or calibrating of apparatus covered by the other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/482 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/569 Constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals battery terminal connectors with integrated measuring arrangements G01R31/364
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

A sensor arrangement and method that may be used with a variety of different energy storage devices, including battery packs found in hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and other types of vehicles. An exemplary sensor arrangement includes a number of sensor units, a controller, and several connections, wherein two or more sensor units are coupled to each node of the battery pack and are coupled to the controller over different connections. An exemplary method is divided into two aspects: an error detection aspect and an error resolution aspect. Because the sensor arrangement provides multiple sensor readings for each node being evaluated, the method can enable the sensor arrangement to continue operating accurately and with redundancy even if it experiences a loss of one or more sensor units.

Claims

1. A sensor arrangement for use with an energy storage device, comprising:

a controller;

a first sensor unit being coupled to a first node of the energy storage device and to the controller, and the first sensor unit provides the controller with a first sensor reading that pertains to the first node; and

a second sensor unit also being coupled to the first node of the energy storage device and to the controller, and the second sensor unit also provides the controller with a second sensor reading that pertains to the first node;

wherein the controller uses the first and second sensor readings to evaluate the first node of the energy storage device.

2. The sensor arrangement of claim 1, wherein the energy storage device is a vehicle battery pack and the first node includes a plurality of battery cells.

3. The sensor arrangement of claim 2, wherein each of the first and second sensor units is individually coupled to each of the plurality of battery cells of the first node.

4. The sensor arrangement of claim 1, wherein the first and second sensor units have separate connections to the first node.

5. The sensor arrangement of claim 1, wherein the first and second sensor units are included within a single electronic module.

6. The sensor arrangement of claim 1, wherein the controller is physically mounted outside of the energy storage device.

7. The sensor arrangement of claim 1, wherein the controller is a battery control module for a vehicle battery pack.

8. The sensor arrangement of claim 1, further comprising a first connection for coupling the first sensor unit to the controller and a second connection for coupling the second sensor unit to the controller, wherein the first and second connections are separate from one another.

9. A method of using a sensor arrangement that evaluates an energy storage device, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a first sensor reading from a first sensor unit at a controller, wherein the first sensor reading pertains to a first node of the energy storage device;

(b) receiving a second sensor reading from a second sensor unit at the controller, wherein the second sensor reading also pertains to the first node of the energy storage device; and

(c) using the first and second sensor readings to detect an error with the sensor arrangement and/or the energy storage device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a first connection couples the first sensor unit and a first plurality of additional sensor units to the controller, and a second connection couples the second sensor unit and a second plurality of additional sensor units to the controller.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step (c) further comprises performing one or more down-the-lane evaluation(s) that involve the first sensor reading and sensor readings from the first plurality of additional sensor units, wherein the down-the-lane evaluation(s) are used to detect an error with the sensor arrangement and/or the energy storage device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the down-the-lane evaluation(s) identify any sensor readings that are outliers which fall outside of an acceptable window for a sensor reading distribution that is bound by lower and upper limits.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the acceptable window is dynamically determined depending on conditions within the energy storage device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the down-the-lane evaluation(s) identify any sensor readings that are outliers where two or more sensor readings are consistently the same for a certain amount of time.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the down-the-lane evaluation(s) identify any sensor readings that are outliers which do not exhibit similar trends with the other sensor readings in response to changing conditions within the energy storage device.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein step (c) further comprises performing one or more across-the-lane evaluation(s) that involve the first sensor reading and at least one sensor reading from the second sensor unit or the second plurality of sensor units, wherein the across-the-lane evaluation(s) are used to detect an error with the sensor arrangement and/or the energy storage device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the across-the-lane evaluation(s) identify any sensor readings that are outliers where sensor readings from the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit differ by a certain amount.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the across-the-lane evaluation(s) are used to identify a target reading, and one or more sensor readings from the first plurality of sensor units or the second plurality of sensor units are compared to the target reading to identify any outliers which differ from the target reading by a certain amount.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein step (c) identifies one or more outlier(s) and determines if the outliers are due to errors with the sensor arrangement or errors with the energy storage device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein if the outlier(s) are due to errors with the energy storage device, then the method further comprises the step of:

(d) sending a warning to a driver and/or call center informing them of the energy storage device malfunction.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein if the outlier(s) are due to errors with the sensor arrangement, then the method further comprises the steps of:

(d) ignoring bad sensor readings from the first sensor unit, wherein the bad sensor readings pertain to the first node of the energy storage device; and

(e) corroborating good sensor readings from the second sensor unit, wherein the good sensor readings also pertain to the first node of the energy storage device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein step (e) further comprises corroborating the good sensor readings from the second sensor unit by performing one or more down-the-lane evaluations.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein step (e) further comprises corroborating the good sensor readings from the second sensor unit by comparing the good sensor readings with a target reading.

24. A method of using a sensor arrangement that evaluates an energy storage device, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a first sensor reading from a first sensor unit at a controller, wherein the first sensor reading pertains to a first node of the energy storage device;

(b) receiving a second sensor reading from a second sensor unit at the controller, wherein the second sensor reading also pertains to the first node of the energy storage device; and

(c) using the first and second sensor readings to resolve an error with the sensor arrangement and/or the energy storage device.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein a first connection couples the first sensor unit and a first plurality of additional sensor units to the controller, and a second connection couples the second sensor unit and a second plurality of additional sensor units to the controller.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein step (c) identifies one or more outlier(s) and determines if the outliers are due to errors with the sensor arrangement or errors with the energy storage device.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein if the outlier(s) are due to errors with the energy storage device, then the method further comprises the step of:

(d) sending a warning to a driver and/or call center informing them of the energy storage device malfunction.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein if the outlier(s) are due to errors with the sensor arrangement, then the method further comprises the steps of:

(d) ignoring bad sensor readings from the first sensor unit, wherein the bad sensor readings pertain to the first node of the energy storage device; and

(e) corroborating good sensor readings from the second sensor unit, wherein the good sensor readings also pertain to the first node of the energy storage device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein step (e) further comprises corroborating the good sensor readings from the second sensor unit by performing one or more down-the-lane evaluations.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein step (e) further comprises corroborating the good sensor readings from the second sensor unit by comparing the good sensor readings with a target reading.